{"title":"Robustness in binary-action supermodular games revisited","authors":"Daisuke Oyama, Satoru Takahashi","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00162-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00162-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We show that in all (whether generic or nongeneric) binary-action supermodular games, an extreme action profile is robust to incomplete information if and only if it is a monotone potential maximizer. The equivalence does not hold for nonextreme action profiles.</p>","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141773353","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of the Bank of Japan’s exchange traded fund and corporate bond purchases on firms’ capital structure","authors":"Thuy Linh Nguyen","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00159-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00159-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study examines how the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ’s) exchange-traded fund (ETF) and corporate bond (CB) purchases affect the capital structure of Japanese listed firms. The results first suggest that the BOJ’s ETF purchases reduced the equity risk premium for firms included in the purchases, thereby lowering their cost of equity. These firms issued more stocks and became less dependent on bond debt and bank loans than control firms, resulting in a lower level of leverage. On the other hand, the BOJ’s CB purchases lowered the risk premium of bonds eligible for such purchases, which implies a decline in the cost of bond debt. Firms eligible for CB purchases issued more bonds, while reducing bank debt but to a smaller extent, thus having higher leverage than firms not eligible for CB purchases. Categorizing firms into four groups based on whether their stocks were included in ETF purchases and/or their bonds were eligible for CB purchases further shows that the policy impacts on firm financing have differed depending on which group a firm fell in. These results indicate that the BOJ’s ETF and CB purchases have had a considerable impact on the cost of capital, securities issuance activities, and corporate capital structure.</p>","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141531360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evidence on price stickiness in Japan","authors":"Kozo Ueda","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00161-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00161-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Using microdata from the Retail Price Survey (the basic statistics for the Consumer Price Index), we document facts regarding price stickiness in Japan. The main results are as follows: (1) The average frequency of price changes approximates <span>(20%)</span> on a monthly basis. (2) The frequency of price changes is more heterogeneous than that in the US (3) Whereas no clear relationship exists between the frequency and size of price changes, a positive correlation emerges between the size of price changes and price dispersion across stores. (4) Large cities tend to have a higher frequency of price changes and smaller price dispersion than small cities. (5) A positive relationship exists between price changes and jobs-to-applicants ratio for some services. (6) Behind the 2022–2023 price increase, the frequency of price changes exhibits a notable increase for certain goods and services such as eating out, while no distinct change is observed for the size of price changes or price dispersion.</p>","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141549696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Di Wu, Leonard F. S. Wang, Jen-Yao Lee, Haiyang Hu
{"title":"Pass-through and tax incidence in Cournot duopoly with loan commitment","authors":"Di Wu, Leonard F. S. Wang, Jen-Yao Lee, Haiyang Hu","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00160-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00160-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141340978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The 2023 Japanese Economic Association Nakahara Prize: Recipient—Prof. Toru Kitagawa, Brown University and University College London","authors":"Ryo Okui","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00157-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00157-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141114013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The 2023 Japanese Economic Association Award for Young Female Researchers sponsored by the Nippon Life Insurance Company","authors":"Mari Tanaka","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00158-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00158-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141118352","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The optimum quantity of debt for an aging Japan: welfare and demographic dynamics","authors":"Akira Okamoto","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00156-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00156-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140970292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How serious was it? The impact of preschool closure on mothers’ psychological distress: evidence from the first COVID-19 outbreak","authors":"Izumi Yokoyama, R. Takaku","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00155-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00155-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140973014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Feldstein–Horioka Puzzle or Paradox after 44 years: a fallacy of composition","authors":"Charles Yuji Horioka","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00153-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00153-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The finding of Feldstein and Horioka (1980) that domestic saving and domestic investment are highly correlated across countries despite the rapid globalization and liberalization of financial markets in recent decades has been regarded as a Puzzle or Paradox. However, in this paper, we show that countries as a whole may not be able to transfer their capital abroad and that the Feldstein–Horioka Finding of domestic saving and domestic investment being highly correlated across countries may arise even if there are no frictions in financial markets and even if individual investors can freely transfer their capital abroad if there are frictions in goods markets such as transport costs, tariffs, nontariff barriers, the cost of regulatory compliance, etc. In fact, there is evidence that frictions in goods markets are a more serious impediment to countries as a whole being able to transfer their capital abroad than frictions in financial markets, especially in the short run.</p>","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140582509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The role of nudge-based messages on the acceptability and download of COVID-19 contact tracing apps: survey experiments","authors":"Hirofumi Kurokawa, Shusaku Sasaki, Fumio Ohtake","doi":"10.1007/s42973-024-00152-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s42973-024-00152-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We investigated the effectiveness of nudge-based messages in promoting the download of contact tracing apps, particularly in the context of low uptake due to serious distrust in the product. Even in the presence of distrust towards the app, promoting downloads can be a beneficial means of preventing infection spread at a stage before pharmacological interventions, such as vaccines or therapeutic drugs, are established. Two studies were conducted with Japanese residents who had not yet downloaded any contact tracing apps. Study 1, based on smartphone location data, targeted 2690 individuals who had gone out despite public instructions to stay at home. Study 2 targeted 4126 individuals whose web-search behavior could be tracked. Nudge-based messages did not increase app downloads in either study. In Study 1, where participants were considered non-cooperative, these messages also did not enhance acceptability such as willingness to accept and intention to download the apps. Conversely, in Study 2, a more representative sample, nudge-based messages emphasizing altruism, economic losses, and medical losses increased app acceptability, although they did not increase searches related to the app's keywords.</p>","PeriodicalId":516533,"journal":{"name":"The Japanese Economic Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139977467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}